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Romanian UN Officers Blamed for Pristina Deaths

19 04 2007  Report branded as whitewash by lawyer representing dead men’s families.

By Krenar Gashi in Pristina (Balkan Insight, 18 April 07)

A UN interim report of 16 April from the international prosecutor in Kosovo has said police officers from Romania were responsible for the deaths of two people in a protest in Pristina of 10 February.

“The evidence to date leads to the conclusion that deaths of Mon Balaj and Arben Xheladini were unnecessary and avoidable,” said the report signed by Robert Dean, special prosecutor and head of investigating task force for the case.

Balaj, aged 26, and Xheladini, aged 31, died as a result of head wounds from rubber bullets fired by Romanian special police units that serve in Kosovo as part of UN mission, UNMIK.

“The state of the evidence gathered thus far does not meet the threshold of reasonable suspicions of criminal activity committed by any particular person,” it added.

Tome Gashi, lawyer of the families of the victims, accused the report’s authors of attempting to exonerate the men responsible for the shootings.

“Criminal responsibility is individual,” he said. “This report generalizes the responsibility to at least eight policemen without identifying them.”

However, Dean said this was a misinterpretation of the report’s findings, and no one was yet ruling out charges.

“There is a reasonable suspicion that three of the shootings constitute crimes under Kosovo law”, Dean said on 17 April.

“Those crimes would be murder and the various types of murder, attempt to commit murder, and inflicting grievous bodily injury,” he added. “The interim report concludes that at this point the shootings in question appear to be unwarranted and unjustified.”

As Dean pointed out, the report noted that victims had posed no threat to anyone at the time they were shot.

The protest on 10 February was organized by the Vetevendosje (Self-determination) movement. A radical nationalist group, it demands full independence for Kosovo and opposes the UN plan for supervised independence.

Police used tear gas and rubber bullets when about 3,000 protesters tried to break through police lines to reach government buildings. Film footage showed the protestors throwing stones and other heavy objects at police, including wooden placards.

In an investigation published on 23 February, Balkan Insight revealed that UN police had opened fire and continued to fire while advancing towards the protesters, even when it was apparent the crowd was retreating.

[Click here to read the investigative report]

After viewing about five hours of film, Balkan Insight noted six instances in which Romanian officers could be seen firing rubber bullets directly into the crowd.

The violent protest and its fatal aftermath forced the immediate resignation of Fatmir Rexhepi, the minister of interior, and Steven Curtis, chief commissioner of UNMIK police.

Most of the Romanian police have now left Kosovo. Seventy-five police officers, including 11 who were under investigations, left on 21 March, despite UNMIK’s request to not to do so until the investigation was finished.

Romania’s Interior Ministry said on 17 April that it “regretted the unwanted loss of human life during the incidents and reaffirms Romania’s wish to continue to contribute to the U.N. peacekeeping mission.”

Krenar Gashi is BIRN’s Kosovo Editor. Marian Chiriac, BIRN Romania Director also contributed to this article. Balkan Insight is BIRN’s online publication.